But the Earth Refused to Die
by Stevethebarbarian
Summary: *DETERMINATION. You will fight together, or die alone.
1. Chapter 1: The End of the Beginning

"so, uh… they've already killed her?"

"Chances are, yes."

"why'd ya wait?"

"I was being indecisive. Sorry."

"real weird hearing that from you."

"Real weird saying it. But it has to be done. This has to stop."

"i agree. this has to stop. how many times, did you say?"

"No idea. Hundreds, maybe thousands."

"i almost find that hard to believe."

"Damn it, trashbag, so do I. But it's _true._ I _remember."_

"seems like i'd be able to handle 'em."

"You get them dozens of times each timeline, but eventually they get the pattern down."

"so… i do the exact same thing every time?"

"Yep. Every single time, the exact same thing. I always watch."

"well, i guess i need to work on that."

"Yeah, I guess you do. Sans… we need to stop them."

"i know."

Flowey took that his cue to leave, and he popped into the ground, disappearing. Sans stood by a few seconds, his hands in his pockets as he contemplated the events of the near future. If Flowey was to be believed, right now, there was a maniac human about to exit the RUINS, the blood of dozens of their hands. It sounded insane, but Flowey would know, he supposed. He remembered the LOADS even better than Sans, so it wasn't a stretch to assume that after a certain number of nearly identical RESETS, Flowey would begin picking it up.

He remembered the humans that had come before. He'd actually been against killing them, but he had a job to do, at least the last couple of times, and the first few he had had nothing to do with it. They could LOAD. And they killed _them._ So why would this kid be any different? He went to see Papyrus.

"So… Toriel is dead?"

"Yeah."

"I never thought I'd outlive her."

"Huh. To think of it… neither did I, at first."

"Well. I suppose there is no use in continuing this conversation any longer. I have no idea how you have this information, and, frankly, I don't care, not one bit. The human has killed Toriel. I would kill them anyway, to tell the truth, but now I have more motivation. Away. I have much to think about."

"Right. I'm out. Be there."

"Do not give me orders."

"…"

"Fine."

And Flowey popped into the ground again.

ASGORE sat on his throne and crossed his hands in front of him, thinking about life, much like Sans had done just a few minutes earlier. Tori was dead, there was little doubt. That a human was coming, there was no doubt.

He had killed humans before. Dozens of them, in fact, and one of them that could LOAD. If you killed them enough times, eventually they'd give up, and once they gave up, even if the decision was subconscious, they wouldn't have the DETERMINATION necessary to LOAD and they would die permanently, leaving their SOUL to eternally float in a jar, waiting for him, King ASGORE, to absorb them and free the monsters from their eternal prison.

ASGORE punched the arm of his chair in sudden consternation, and got to his feet. He could not allow even one more of his subjects to die at the hands of this human. He actually began to run, making his way to Snowdin.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. A HUMAN IS COMING… BUT WE CANNOT CAPTURE THEM?"

"yeah, pap, that's right."

"YOU WANT US TO… KILL THEM?"

"yeah."

" _WHY!?_ "

"cause, pap, if we don't, then they'll kill us."

"… ARE YOU SURE?"

"i'm _positive,_ bro."

"PERHAPS… THEY ONLY NEED SOME COUNSELING! PERHAPS WE COULD-"

"that's not how it works, papyrus. they've killed us all a lot of times before."

"SANS… YOU KNOW I DON'T UNDERSTAND THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT… DON'T YOU BELIEVE… THAT EVEN THE WORST PERSON CAN CHANGE? THAT _ANYONE_ CAN BE A GOOD PERSON, IF THEY JUST TRY?"

"yeah, pap. i believe that. but some people aren't gonna try."

Papyrus closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"ALLRIGHT, SANS. I UNDERSTAND. WE ALL HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER."

"that's right, bro. we either fight together, or die alone."

The two hugged.

"THEN LET US FIGHT TOGETHER."

A tear fell slowly down Sans' cheek as he squeezed Papyrus. He considered that he might be making a mistake bringing him, and he swore to any god that was listening that he wouldn't let him get hurt. No matter what.

"So yeah… that's what's happening, and… they need your help. _We_ need your help."

"And why should _I_ help _you._ You've never done anything but cause us trouble. You've never done _one thing_ to help this world. You've stolen, you've annoyed, you've probably done much worse, considering the relatively high missing monsters count."

"You… aren't just helping me. You should know that the human has already killed Queen TORIEL, and Sans, Papyrus, and the Canine Unit will be next. C'mon, Undyne. You're not just gonna wait all hard-nosed for them to come to you."

"I have a job to do, and I'm not going to leave Water- WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING!?"

"That's the spirit."

"If I can kill them sooner, why should I wait!? And why would I let Sans and Papyrus and the dogs die, especially against the murderer that's killed the Queen!? Screw tradition, screw my _job,_ and screw everything else! I'm gonna kill the hell out of that damn human before they can even see it coming!"

"O-ok! But you have to remember, fight together or you'll- damn it, she's already gone."

Flowey popped into the ground as Undyne rushed toward Snowdin. He legs pumped with furious energy, a glowing magical spear flashing in her hand. She was filled with rage, sadness, and DETERMINATION. In a perfect world, she would have time to mourn the Queen's death, but this was not a perfect world. In fact, this was the opposite. This mountain was a combination of a prison, a concentration camp, and Hell, and it was all the fault of mankind. She was going to kill the human, get their SOUL, give it to ASGORE, and free the monsters.

She was a heroine. That was what heroines did. _That_ was her job, not endlessly patrolling Waterfall. Her strides matched the puffing of her breath, each step letting off endless rings of water rippling across the swampland.

"W-what?! TORIEL… is d-dead!?"

"Yep! And we're all going to be next, if no one stops the human."

"W-what do you want m-me to do?"

"Activate EX and stay out of our way, that's what. You can't fight, so don't try. Do what you're good at and press buttons."

"H-how do I know I can b-believe you."

"Because. I've _seen_ it! You've _dreamed_ about it! You know what's going to happen! You've woken up in cold sweats, thinking about it every night! How six humans have fallen so far, each almost completely benign! How, one of these days, without a doubt, we're going to run out of luck and a _bad_ one is gonna fall down here. You know what humans can do, you know how determined they can be, and you know how many of us they could KILL. So why do you keep acting so c-c-confused?"

"Shut up."

"Fine. But just you wait, lady. That waifu of yours isn't coming home."

Alphys cringed as Flowey disappeared. She knew what he meant. And that alone was enough to motivate her to believe him, even if what he said was untrue. She pressed a button on her desk, opening a computer interface.

"Activate project MTTEX."

She sat down, seemingly exhausted by the effort of saying those simple words. A tear fell down her cheek. If what the flower had said was true… if a human really was coming down, committing Genocide… then she couldn't fail Undyne. She couldn't let her die. She knew what humans were capable of, and Undyne didn't. Mettaton did. She could save them all, if only she found the courage within herself to ACT.

She clenched her clawed fist, and got to her feet. If she needed to ACT, then she would ACT. If the human wouldn't show MERCY, then she would FIGHT. She strode quickly out of her door.

Muffet came because she heard the human liked to hurt spiders.

RG01 and 2 came because each was individually told the other was in danger.

Final Froggit came because he was told that only with combat could the meaning of life be found.

Whimsalot came because he was told that the human would be a worthy adversary. Both he and Flowey knew that wasn't why he was coming.

Aaron came because he was looking for a fight.

A Temmie came because she was hyped. Just, hyped in general.

Grillby and the Nice Cream Guy came because they figured the monsters would need refreshments.

Napstablook came because he was bored.

By some method or another, almost every significant monster in the entire Underground converged on the door to the RUINS. They all met up as the massive doors slowly swung open, and they all stood there as a gust of wind sent millions of tiny particles of dust into their eyes.

The human appeared.


	2. Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End

The human said that the monsters weren't going to accomplish anything. All they were doing was making this just a little bit more interesting. They glanced at Undyne and winked, before saying that it would probably make it _easier_ too.

Undyne noticed the glance and clenched her fists. She couldn't guess what the human's could possibly mean.

And she didn't care.

Not one damn bit. She was going to tear out their SOUL… but not before tearing out their organs. She was going to enjoy every moment of killing this worthless killer. Every _single_ person in the RUINS. Not to _mention_ Queen TORIEL. She was ready for a _fight."_

* * *

Papyrus held a bone lightly in his hand. He wasn't ready for this at all. He didn't even know why he was here.

No, wait. He knew.

He was here because the Underground needed him. Because monster-kind needed him. Because they couldn't win without the help of the Great Papyrus. He wasn't happy about it.

But Papyrus was ready to kill.

* * *

Sans' eye glowed with a dull orange light. He was holding his hand in the air and idly flipping a blue bone through the air. He was afraid. He was afraid for Papyrus, he was afraid for the monsters, and he was afraid… for himself. He'd always been cocky. Although no one knew it but himself, he was the strongest monster in the Underground by a wide margin. But like this… the Human had only a fraction of the LOVE he'd be comfortable with fighting them at. If KR didn't work, he couldn't possibly use his full power. And as casual as he was with everything, as much as he didn't care…

He didn't want to die.

But more than that, he didn't want Papyrus to die. Which meant he _had_ to fight. And he'd gladly take a bullet for his brother.

Or a knife, he supposed.

* * *

Mettaton smiled, clenching and unclenching his fists. It had been hard convincing Alphys to let him use this form. Even after she'd activated it, she didn't want him to transfer bodies yet. It was incomplete, she said, and besides. His base form was invincible. His EX form wasn't. He could _die_ out there. And yeah, he knew that. But he also knew that being a fabulously sexy rectangle wasn't gonna help anyone. It was weak, practically harmless, and _unbearably_ slow. And so he needed EX, vulnerable or not.

Now, he stood in the field, ignored by everyone there, and he didn't care if he was noticed or not.

He'd have the spotlight once he killed the human. He could finish them, take their SOUL, pack his bags, and leave. It'd be as easy as 1 2 3. He couldn't wait. To be a star _and_ a savior. It sounded fun.

* * *

Alphys was cowering. She hadn't unlocked the door of her lab since Mettaton had left. She was afraid. Of Mettaton dying. Of Sans dying. Of herself dying. But most of all, of Undyne dying. She didn't want that to happen. She never, never, never wanted that to happen. And she'd be willing to give up Sans, Mettaton, and herself all to keep it from happening.

Suddenly, though, she realized that sacrificing people wasn't going to stop anything. This wasn't a damn anime. This was _real life._ Which meant she had to _do shit_ if she wanted _results!_ For over 100 years people had been telling her that. Sans, Gaster, the Followers, Mettaton, _all of them!_ And so she had to work! To do something _real_ for once in her useless life! Which meant… she had no choice. She had to dredge it up. To bring it back. But… Mettaton wasn't here, so how would she…

No.

She couldn't do that.

But by god she knew she was going to.

* * *

ASGORE hefted his trident. Despite everything, he'd never killed even one human since the Barrier was raised, at least not personally. He felt like a traitor. A hypocrite. He'd ordered them all around like a coward. Gaster, Sans, Undyne, Times, Gerson, even Muffet. Each had killed a human of their own, but never once had he taken matters into his own hands. Each human, too, had been innocent. Only two of them had any LOVE, and each of _those_ had killed in self-defense.

Not so with _this_ human.

 _This_ human was a mass-murderer. A killer. One could even say… and Angel of Death. ASGORE shuddered. He remembered the legend, like everyone else. But he refused to admit that he feared it. He was the King of all Monsters, and he was going to save his people, live or die, win or lose, rise or fall.

* * *

Flowey didn't have any emotion. No fear. No anger. No anxiety. No happiness. No love. But, in the end, it turned out he was wrong about one of those. He had fear. At the very end, every time, he felt fear. And as it happened again and again, he began to realize sooner, until the fear sprouted up _before_ Mettaton was destroyed. Then _before_ Undyne was killed. Then even before she transformed. Eventually it got to the point that Flowey was horrified of the human before they'd slain a single soul. The fear, the terror… it had become ingrained into his life. He was always afraid, always.

And it stung his pride, to be afraid. But there was nothing he could do.

One day, though, he realized. There _was_ something he could do. He couldn't defeat the human alone, even _with_ the six SOULs. But maybe… with the help of the others… he didn't need them? Two little white pellets floated out of the ground behind him as he scowled angrily. He was ready for whatever came next.

Ha. What a joke.

He knew what came next.

And it _wasn't_ going to be pretty.

* * *

ASGORE was the first of the monsters to speak.

"Hello! Human! Listen, before this begins, I must say something to you! On another day, human, perhaps we could be friends. I wish so much to be able to say 'Howdy! Would you like a cup of tea?' Instead, though… I must say this. Stand down and surrender your SOUL to us, or else suffer a fate somewhat worse than a quick death. The entire Underground stands before you, human. All our heroes. All our armies. Every last soul here has only one goal. Freedom. You are the only thing standing in our way. And as much as I despise having to say it… that means that you must _die_ human. On another day, perhaps I would be torn about this. Perhaps I would think, 'What would Tori think?' But today, human, I know what TORIEL would be thinking. My wife would be thinking absolutely nothing. Because she is _dead,_ human. AT YOUR HAND! I shall not let you continue! Stand down!

The human smiled, and tried to make a snarky comment, but suddenly found themselves at a loss for words. Usually they had no lack of witty banter…

But there was nothing to say.


End file.
